Canton Central superintendent presents goals to board

Canton Central School District Superintendent Ronald P. Burke outlined his goals for the 2022-23 school year during the August school board meeting.

Instructional data from 2021-22 will be presented to the board by October, Mr. Burke had listed as his first goal.

The data will be used to identify areas of success and areas in need of improvement in the instructional program, he said.

"We are waiting on our (grades) three through eight final assessments and those should be coming out this month," he said.

The school will conduct a climate survey in the middle and high schools by the end of October, Mr. Burke said.

"We will be using a survey through BOCES that is available to us at no cost," he said. "It gives us a baseline of all our students and we will be repeating that at least one more time throughout the year to see progress that we are making or where we are falling down."

Fiscal goals include a look at health insurance. Mr. Burke said his goal is to complete a request for proposal process for health insurance by Jan. 1.

"It is not that we are looking at any wholesale change, but are there any brokers out there who can provide us the exact same insurance at a lower cost?" he said.

By March 1, Mr. Burke said he would prepare a recommendation for health insurance coverage of retirees eligible for Medicare.

His final fiscal goal is to present a report of staffing levels in preparation for the 2023-24 budget discussions before the second board meeting in January.

His policy goals include having the district committee, building councils and policy committee review recommendations regarding the comprehensive code of conduct from the Equity Literacy Institute and to have the policy committee recommend any changes to the full board for a first read prior to the first meeting in June next year.

"The code of conduct review is going to be a yearlong process," he said. "It is about making sure we are treating every child with equity."

Mr. Burke said his communication goals consist of ensuring that the e-newsletter is completed and distributed once a month from September through June; and providing one additional communication to the school community once a month with an emphasis on capital project updates, diversity, equity and inclusion, instruction or curriculum.

Mr. Burke used his discussion of goals as an opportunity to talk about the district's vision.

The Canton Central School District vision is to "establish a nurturing, safe and inclusive environment that challenges all students to achieve their individual potentials."

"For those that know me or have worked with me, it is about the whole child; it is not just about how well they perform on the geometry Regents. Our educational program is about much more than that," he said.

Mr. Burke said the school is building on a solid record.

"We have a long history of excellence. I am very proud to be an alumnus, to be a Golden Bear. I can't think of a school that could have prepared me for the future better than Canton Central," he said.

The history of excellence is a source of pride in the community, he said. But the district has to ensure that the opportunities presented to students are available to all students.

"My vision is that through our work with diversity, equity and inclusion we will identify systemic practices that need change and that we implement the necessary change," he wrote in his goals.

"It is going to help us be the Canton that we want to be, that we need to be. And, that every one of our kids deserves," Mr. Burke said.